


A Study in Science Retreats

by sherlockislovely



Category: Sherlock - Fandom
Genre: Bisexual John Watson, Friendship, Gay Sherlock Holmes, John Watson is a shameless flirt, M/M, Romance, Teenlock
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 11:36:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14212296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sherlockislovely/pseuds/sherlockislovely
Summary: A science retreat for their Microbiology class sparks something new between Sherlock and John that neither of them expected. Well, Sherlock wasn't expecting it. WIP





	A Study in Science Retreats

**Author's Note:**

> Sherlock and John are 17 in this story, and all the other students are around the same age. Rating might go up and I'll add tags as the story continues.

_**Sunday** _

John tugged the last bit of fabric over the metal pole and stepped back to look at his handiwork.

"That should hold... Hopefully," He said, looking back over his shoulder to find Mike swaying back and forth in his hammock. He sighed and shook his head, "Not that you were any help."

"I put up the hammocks!" Mike exclaimed, pointing to the empty hammock across from him.

"Yeah and then you sat there and watched me do all the hard work," John countered, unzipping the tent and throwing their bags inside.

"I feel very underappreciated."

"Piss off, Mike," John laughed, looking around at the other tents in the area.

There were eight people on the retreat in total. Well, nine, if you countered the faculty advisor.

They were practically in the middle of nowhere, a kilometer away from a lake and twenty kilometers from any civilization. A science retreat, is what it was officially called. John liked to consider it the only spring break vacation he could afford.

Not only was it a way to get away from London, away from my sister, and do something fun, but also a way to pass Microbiology.

His teacher, Mr. Dimmock, had announced two weeks ago that anyone that went on the retreat wouldn’t have to take the final. John signed up right away.

John squinted at a lump of tent material squirming a distance away and frowned, "Oi! You need help?"

A head popped out from underneath the material and huffed. It was Bill, John's friend and one of the rugby team. His overgrown hair fell in front of his face and he flicked it away.

"Ah, Cap! Lovely day, innit? I think I'll just stay here and die."

"Alright, you sarcastic git, I'm coming," John said, jogging over to untangle Bill from the tent. He pulled at some of the poles, but Bill only seemed to get lost further under the tarp, "Christ, mate, how'd you even do this?"

Bill shrugged, or tried to, and shook his head, "I'm not meant for campin', John, it’s just not in my blood." He squirmed inside the material in an attempt to escape, but only managed to pull it tighter around him.

"Just hold still, you crazy Scot."

"Oi, John, isn’t calling him crazy and a Scot a bit repetitive?" Mike yelled over to them, to which Bill gave a two-finger salute.

Just as John got Bill free, Mr. Dimmock clapped his hands together and told everyone to head over to the fire ring.

"Alright everyone, welcome to the annual Microbiology science retreat. I know most of you are only here to avoid taking the final, but I hope everyone finds this week fun and educational nonetheless," he paused, looking around the group, and then continued, "The first task is to meet with your retreat buddy. Now, in the spirit of learning and making new friends, I filled this hat with all of your names so it's random. Hopefully, everyone will get a chance to work with someone they wouldn’t normally work with."

Dimmock held out a ball cap with strips of paper in it and shook it in front of Bill. Bill reached in and pulled out a name.

"Sally," Bill announced, looking across the circle to the curly haired girl, giving her a charming smile. She rolled her eyes but moved to stand next to him.

Next was Molly, who pulled Mike. 

It got to John and he reached into the hat, reading the name on the slip.

"Sherlock," He said, looking up at the curly haired boy, who just raised an eyebrow at him. Anderson leaned over and sneered.

"Lucky you, mate. You get the freak."

John frowned and walked over to Sherlock, who glared at Anderson before sniffing disdainfully and turning to John.

"John. We meet again," Sherlock said, nodding at him in an almost friendly way. Almost.

John had started at their school almost a year before and had immediately been an instant hit with their peers. He was kind and friendly to everyone, including Sherlock, much to the boy's surprise. By the beginning of the next school year, John had been nominated captain of the rugby team and, combined with the fact that everyone liked him anyway, he had procured quite a bit of power amongst the student body. A power he had used to get Sebastian Wilkes and his half-wit friends off Sherlock's back. In return, Sherlock had helped John pass his Chemistry class.

They had something close to, but not quite, friendship.

The last two left were Anderson and Greg, so they paired, and then Dimmock started talking again.

"So, this week, the main events are the canoe trip tomorrow, the trivia tournament on Tuesday, the adventure hike on Wednesday, and then Thursday will be a free day until we leave that night. In between all that," he said, handing out sheets of paper to everyone in the circle, "you and your partner will do a project. It’s not difficult, just find a plant and use the books in front of my tent to research it. Create an infographic for the species, which you will turn in at the end of the retreat. And don't forget to collect a sample!"

"Sounds simple enough," John whispered to Sherlock.

"A child could do it," Sherlock replied, rolling his eyes.

"Probably still a bit complex for Anderson, though," John replied, watching the shy smirk that appeared on Sherlock's face. John loved making Sherlock smile. And laugh. God, he had a lovely laugh.

John could admit, if just to himself, that yeah, he had a bit of a crush on Sherlock. He was brilliant and sarcastic and quite easy on the eyes, honestly. If John could just touch those lips, he was sure they’d be so soft...

He shook himself out of his thoughts to find that everyone was scattering, still paired together. Sherlock and turned to John and was giving him an odd look.

"What's going on?" John asked.

"Everyone is finding their plants for the project. Don't worry, I already found some interesting species on the other side of the trail," Sherlock said, leading John over to the trail they had reached the campground through.

"Not anything poisonous, right?" John asked, which knowing Sherlock, was an important question to ask. Sherlock paused and looked away from John.

"...No."

"Yeah, that was believable," John scoffed, watching Sherlock pull latex gloves out of his pocket and pluck something from the soil.

"They're the most interesting ones!" Sherlock protested.

"Fine, but I'm not touching it."

"Fine."

John shuffled around Sherlock and watched his hands for a moment before clearing his throat, "So."

"So," Sherlock replied. John pursed his lips.

"Why were you gone all last week?" John asked, just trying to make conversation. However, Sherlock's shoulders tensed and he froze for a moment.

"Why do you care?" Sherlock asked, not looking at John.

"I'm just curious. There wasn’t anyone correcting Dimmock every ten minutes. It was boring."

Sherlock smirked and his shoulders loosened again, "I was gone for a family matter."

"Oh. Okay," John nodded and decided to drop it before he caused any accidental awkwardness again, "On a different note, I have a question."

Sherlock looked up at him and gave him a wave of his hand as an indicator to continue. John huffed.

"So, you're smart. Really smart. Especially with all this science stuff. I myself came on this trip because it was either this or taking the final. You probably would ace the final without even studying. So. Why are you here?"

"Scientific curiosity," Sherlock replied, carefully placing a red and green leafed plant into a clear plastic bag.

"And a chance to socialize with your schoolmates, to boot! C'mon, you're really saying this was at the top of your desired things to do for spring break?" John scoffed. Sherlock rolled his eyes and tilted his head.

"My parents thought I needed to get out of London for a bit," Sherlock said matter of factly, and then pushed past John, making his way to the stack of books near Mr. Dimmock's tent, effectively ending their conversation. John stared at him as he walked away. Sherlock bent down to flip through one of the texts while John did _not_ think about how nicely his jeans fit his arse. 

* * *

That night, they started a fire and roasted marshmallows, Mike telling only vaguely scary, but funny, ghost stories as the fire crackled behind him.  John listened and laughed for a bit, but ended up staring at Sherlock, who was sitting a bit away, reading something with his flashlight.

Eventually, John gave up listening to Mike and wandered over to Sherlock, sitting down next to him.

"Anything interesting?" John asked. Sherlock looked up at him as he sat down and folded the papers in his hands in half. He tucked them into his bag.

"Not really," he replied, "Just some cold cases."

"Still keen on that detective work, huh? What’s new, then?"

John watched and listened as Sherlock talked about his last case, a robbery, in great detail. His hands flew around in wild gestures and John tried his best not to look smitten as he saw Sherlock's eyes light up as he told the story.

They talked about some other cases and Sherlock even asked John about rugby, and by the time the conversation had dwindled, they realized that everyone else had retreated to their tents, the fire dwindling to mere embers.

John nodded toward his tent and gave Sherlock a small smile, "I guess I better go to bed."

"Me as well," Sherlock said, standing up and brushing off his trousers. He hesitated and watched John stand. They hovered there for a moment before John broke the silence.

"Goodnight, Sherlock."

"Goodnight, John,” Sherlock replied, turning away and climbing into his tent. John watched after him for a moment, biting his lip, and then made his way to his own tent with a quiet sigh.

Later, he lay tucked inside of his sleeping bag, looking up at the shadows splayed on the top of the tent. Mike was silent next to him, only his breathing audible.

“Mike,” John whispered, kicking his shin lightly with his foot, “Mike.”

“Hmm?” Mike answered, obviously almost asleep. John paused and shook his head.

“You’ve known Sherlock for a while…” John trailed off, waiting for his friend to acknowledge the thought. Mike huffed and rolled over, shoving his face into his pillow as he looked at John.

“Since secondary, yeah.”

“Has he… I mean, do you know if he’s…” John closed his eyes. There was no reason to be nervous about talking to his closest friend about this. He wasn’t in the closet, but he’d never explicitly said out loud that he was bisexual.

“Mate, there’s no way that boy is straight,” Mike replied, reading John’s thoughts. John blushed, a fact he was glad he could hide under the cover of darkness.

“Right.”

“Can I go to sleep now?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. Night, Mike.”

“Mm.”


End file.
